Tippi
by 2012001
Summary: (Originally written in 2011.) She could only remember being a whisper of a person, breathing a sigh of relief, and falling. Then darkness. And then she couldn't remember that.


Darkness.  
She could only remember being a whisper of a person, breathing a sigh of relief, and falling. Then darkness.  
And then she couldn't remember that.  
The only things she _could_ see were fleeting glimpses of people, or voices...she could see the shadows of people, and muttering...  
 _Finally...finally...!_  
She didn't like the sound of that voice at all, but..

...

...And then nothing at all.

* * *

"Hello? Hello?"  
Ugh..it was so dark..and she was so tired..  
"...Oh, no.."  
"Uuuuuugh.."  
"Oh! Thank stars you're awake!"  
She shot up in the air, not realizing at first that this wasn't right. She slowly looked around, then below her. She gasped, then fell. She fluttered her wings slightly. Something about that wasn't right...wings? She tried again. This time, she was able to stay in the air without much physical effort. She didn't even need to think about it, really; she just kept floating in the air. She finally turned her focus on the person who had surprised her.  
"Who are you?"  
He...his name was Merlon.  
She was confused. His name was Merlon. People in Flipside (Flipside? What was that?) typically looked to him for guidance. Max HP is ? (Wait...what?) and Attack is ? (Whatever does THAT mean?). She knew all this just by looking at him!  
"Merlon," She said. "..You're Merlon, and I'm.."  
...I am..  
..Who am I?  
She was a little worried by that. Who was she..? A name, a name! Think of your name!  
Ti...Tim...no, she knew her gender, why would a woman be named 'Tim'?...Ti..p..Timp...No, that stupid 'M'!...Ti...p..i?  
Tipi? No, Tippi. Tippi! Yes!  
"..I'm Tippi," She finally said. That sounded right. Merlon seemed a little awestruck.  
"And how did you know who I am?" He asked.  
"I looked at you, and just...knew," She said.  
"Well," Merlon said, blinking repeatedly, "I think we may need to look into that...but! I think you should get a look at yourself! After all, you've changed quite a bit.."  
Changed? That had to be why her wings felt odd. Merlon pulled out a mirror and set it down in front of her.  
The image reflected back to her showed a rainbow-colored butterfly, but unlike most, it seemed to made up of triangles. She had to open and close her eyes several times to be sure. She didn't have any visible face, yet she could clearly feel that she had one...how odd.  
"Well?" He asked. She didn't know what to make of it.  
"..I wasn't always like this?" She asked nervously. Merlon sighed.  
"I was afraid of that."  
"Afraid of what?" Tippi asked, suddenly in a panic. What was wrong?  
Merlon sat down and began to tell her the story. He had found her near-death, and in a desperate measure, changed her from her original human form to a Pixl form. He continued to explain the Pixls, the story of the original twelve Pixls and the demonic Pixl Queen, and how many tried to create their own Pixls since, all the experiments usually died in the process.  
"But luckily for you, you made it safe and sound," Merlon said. Tippi was still confused. A few words in there seemed to jump out at her. The tribes of Darkness and Light in particular. When she asked Merlon about it, he laughed.  
"Oh ho! So you want to know about that, too?"  
He continued into the story of the two Tribes, how the Tribe of Darkness had separated from the Ancients, taking the Dark Prognosticus with them, eventually becoming a whole different species altogether.  
"Enough of this," Merlon said, chuckling. "I'll explain everything in due time. I think it's about time that you got some rest. Even if you don't remember, you have been through quite an ordeal."  
Tippi yawned. (Again, no one would have noticed the action but her! How strange.) Now that he mentioned it, she _was_ very tired..  
She fell into a deep sleep, completely unaware that as she slept, someone very close had already made a similar change, only for the worse.

* * *

Over the months to come, Tippi eventually had learned everything about the two Tribes, and the two prophecies; the Dark Prognosticus, and its counterpart, the Light Prognosticus. She noticed that Merlon seemed particularly nervous in the later months.  
"Merlon?" She had asked him once, "What exactly...has been anticipated for 1,500 years?"  
A shadow of gloom crossed his face. "Eventually, our world, and all the worlds, will need a hero. That time..is bound to come sooner or later." The four heroes would need to join forces to stop the Chaos Heart..which would end up bringing about the Void..and the total destruction of everything.

On that day, nothing had pointed that everything would soon change. Merlon was sitting and looking over the Light Prognosticus, and Tippi was sitting around, doing nothing. She had lived here for a while now; nothing of real interest had happened.  
Suddenly, there was a single moment when everything seemed to die. Tippi felt a sudden cold take over her, and Merlon looked startled.  
"What in blazes-?"  
The ground shook ever so slightly. From outside, someone screamed, "IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD!" followed by a thud.  
Merlon got up and opened the door. His eyes widened. "Mercy be.."  
Tippi flew past Merlon and the fallen person (Who, for whatever reason, decided to throw a bag over his head) and looked up towards the sky.  
Directly in the center of the yellowish sky was a small dark rift in the sky. It was only a small blip on the horizon, but it was enough to catch people's attention.  
"Tippi?"  
"I know."  
Merlon had explained to her before, that she'd have to go out and find this hero. However, he guessed they'd find him before this even happened...but no matter, Tippi thought to herself as she flipped between the dimensions. The Void was already there, ready to take everything in its path.

* * *

Mario. Hero of the Mushroom Kingdom. Hero of the Light Prognosticus. Max HP-...oh, nevermind.  
"Mario...Mario...Mario..."  
She kept nudging him and calling his name until he finally opened his eyes.  
"Are you awake?"  
Mario nodded, raising a hand in acknowledgement. "That's-a me. And you are?"  
"I'm Tippi," She said. "I am what is known as a Pixl.." No, how to explain it? "..A sort of fairy..Mario, I came to find you.."  
Mario suddenly glared at her suspiciously and took a fighting stance. Tippi shook her head.  
"I am no enemy. You met Count Bleck..and he captured a princess and an evil king, is this not so?"  
Mario straightened up and nodded.  
"Then that means even now Count Bleck is beginning to form the Void...we haven't much time."  
She drew two boxes around her and Mario.  
"Let us go.."  
She flipped them both out of the dimension.

* * *

After recieving the first Pure Heart and directions from Merlon, they were off. First, to find the wizard Bestovius, who would be able to allow them to flip between the dimensions. Eventually, after encounters with many enemies and even meeting one of Bleck's minions, Tippi stopped Mario.  
Something...underground? Below here..the Pure Heart!  
"WARNING!"  
The ground suddenly shook below Mario's feet, and Tippi fluttered back a little. A large, pink, metal dragonlike robot burst out of the ground.  
"INTRUSION DETECED. LEAVE OR BE PURGED."  
It took in the sight of Mario, then stopped.  
"WAIT. SCAN INITIALIZED. RED CAP DETECTED. BLUE OVERALLS. LEVEL FIVE MUSTACHE. POSSIBLE SUBJECT IDENTIFICATION." It shook its large head. "BUT IT IS IMPOSSIBLE. SEARCHING DATA BANKS.."  
Its eyes went briefly blank, then it blinked.  
"SEARCH COMPLETE. ONE POSITIVE MATCH. HERO DETECTED."  
The robot jumped a little.  
"FORGIVE ME, HERO," it said. "I AM CALLED FRACKTAIL. I AM HERE TO GUARD THE PURE HEART THAT LIES JUST AHEAD FROM INTRUDERS. I HAVE WAITED THOUSANDS OF YEARS FOR YOUR ARRIVAL. YOU MAY PASS."  
There was a sudden burst of laughter.  
"Ah ha ha! I fear it won't be that easy, oh no.."  
Tippi gasped. That..  
"WHO SPEAKS?" Fracktail said.  
With a slight distortion of the air, a jester appeared. Tippi was a little disappointed. All that...and this is who she gets? Jesters were usually lighthearted, silly things. It was a bit hard to take him seriously in that wear..but that smile..  
"So very nice to meet you, _and_ your mustache~" He said. "I am Count Bleck's master of dimensions, the pleaser of crowds..I am..Dimentio!" He gave a small bow. "Remember the name well."  
"I know you," Tippi suddenly blurted out. "You're that.."  
...That voice from my dream...  
...But to take Fracktail's words...it is impossible.

* * *

At long last, the Pure Hearts being collected, the journey underway! They had even found another hero; Princess Peach had been able to join them. Standing right outside the door in the newest world, Tippi turned to them all.  
"That's odd," She mused. "I can feel the next Pure Heart nearby, but where can it be..? Well, I-"  
Something cold and.. _wet_ grabbed her, and Tippi screamed. She looked up, only to have her vision cut off. She was...in a box? Going where? Where was she going?! And what about Mario and Peach?

She could hear quick footsteps, and quiet muttering. And what on earth is a 'digibutter'?  
Finally, the box came off, and Tippi groaned. She was in a _cage_ now.  
"Eeek!" She shrieked as a bright light blinded her. Blinking, she turned to face it. A large green chameleon stared back at her, looking as happy as a little kid at Christmas.  
"Just wait...once everyone on the forums sees this, they'll be sooo jealous...nerr herrrr herrrr!"  
"What is this?" Tippi whispered to herself. The chameleon looked over her.  
"What to name you...YES! You will be...Francine!"  
Francine..?  
She had nothing to do besides watch him (Francis, his name was) tap away on his computer all day. From over his shoulder she could make out her own picture and some words below it. Some people really had no lives..  
"Mario.." She called quietly. Oh, he wouldn't hear her! What was the point?

* * *

All right. If he was going to take one more picture of her, she was going to go completely insane.  
At that same moment, the door to Francis's room opened.  
"Peach?" Tippi said. She looked behind her, and through the open door Mario and...Bowser, yes, that was it..were both dodging..lazers? What in the worlds..?  
She gasped again as the floor below her cage opened, lowering her and the platform under the floor.  
Straining to hear, she could barely make out Francis and Peach talking, then a muffled explosion shook the ground. Francis started screaming, "MY GRAPHICS CAARD!" and then more footsteps. Bowser and Mario had seemed to have managed to get in, and the three of them were fighting Francis. Tippi frowned. If only she could be of some help!  
Finally, she began rising up through the floor again. Francis was gone, but both Mario and Peach were opening the cage. (Bowser stood there, looking a bit annoyed. "All this for a bug," She heard him mutter. "Stupid..")  
"Mario? Peach?" She asked. "You came all the way here to save me?"  
Mario nodded. Bowser kept grumbling, "A stupid _bug!_ "  
"Of course," Peach said. "We couldn't just leave you!"  
...She didn't know what to say. All that for her?  
"...Thank you...Thank you, Mario!"  
She was getting a little excited now, and murmured to herself, " _Oh, I'm so_ happy!.."  
Suddenly, a rainbow-colored light appeared around her. Bowser retreated a few steps. "What..is that..?" He asked nervously.  
Out of the light came a bright green object...the next Pure Heart?  
"But..how.." Tippi wondered. She was just happy that they had come to rescue her...and...

* * *

"Say, Tippi," Peach said. They had just returned from finding their next Pure Heart. "You seem more cheerful lately. It's a nice change."  
"Really?" Tippi said. "Well..since you rescued me from Fort Francis, I've been feeling pretty good.." She giggled. "I feel like I could hang around with Mario forever.."  
She giggled again, slightly louder. Mario pointed at himself and mouthed, "Me?"  
Before anyone could say anything else, though, a voice called, "You're all back?"  
It was Merlon. Tippi turned to face him, but the action made her feel a little dizzy. She ignored it. "How was it this time?" He asked. "Did you find another Pure Heart in space?"  
"Yes," Tippi said eagerly, "We found the next Pure Heart. And this one-URK!"  
She gasped. It hurt her to move, but yet she tried fluttering. Her wings burned, and she stopped. She felt herself fall slowly to the ground, then she blacked out.

 _Count Bleck...  
A world without conflict...  
But at the cost of all existence...  
Who is he?  
My Pixl form...  
I wasn't always a Pixl, I know that..  
...But then, who am I really?_

...  
..Or, wait-

Tippi followed Merlon back to the new door, waiting for the heroes.  
"I'm all right," She assured them, seeing their worried faces. "Let's go.."  
...But that question still bothered her.

* * *

"Tippi...Tippi..."  
"Wha?!" Tippi jumped. She must have been daydreaming.  
"What's the matter?" Peach asked. "You seemed out of it there."  
They didn't hear that? That voice, just now? "Didn't you just hear something?"  
They all shook their heads. "No?" She sighed. "All right then. It's just that...for a second, I thought I remembered something very important..."  
A place. She suddenly had remembered waiting for someone. She didn't know who, only that it was nighttime...nothing more than that, but-  
 _Brrrrrrrrrrrrr._  
The Void had already grown bigger.  
"We must hurry," She said. But that place...where was that place?..

* * *

20 Sammer Guys down..but 80 to go..They wouldn't make it in time, Tippi thought, as the Void was growing larger..  
"The Void is growing larger..we have to hurry," She said. A voice laughed.  
"Hurry?" It said. "Why not pause and savor the show?" The figure spun into visibility...none other than Count Bleck himself. "It is far too late to stop..Count Bleck!"  
"Who's the creepy clown with the cape?" Bowser spat. "Count Bleck!"  
Bleck only laughed. "The prophecy unfolds smoothly, thanks to the Chaos Heart. Soon, the light of each world will be snuffed out, one by one.."  
She couldn't take it. He talked about it like..like this mass murder was nothing at all. "How could you do something so..unspeakable?" She demanded. Bleck turned to her.  
"You QUESTION Count Bleck?! This worthless world's destruction matters not. Better I erase-no. Better I make it as if it had never existed!"  
"How can you say that?" Tippi said. "That's..horrible!"  
"Count Bleck scoffs at you!" Bleck said, smirking. "An insignificant Pixl lectures Count Bleck on what is right and wrong?"  
Insignificant..why did him calling her that hurt like that? She put it out of her mind. "This is not up for discussion! You're wrong..and sick! All living things have a heart. They're all precious. You can't just erase them!"  
Something in Count Bleck's demeanor seemed to change. "You defend the heart?" He said, the slightest bit softer. "Nothing could be more worthless.."  
He turned slightly away from them and tipped his cap over his eyes. His voice barely above a low whisper, he said, "All things...are meaningless. Aside from Timpani, no treasure mattered in the least to me..."  
Timpani?  
Tippi froze for a second.  
"Tim..Timpani?" She stuttered. TimpaniTimpaniTimpani. Her name was Tippi, but Timpani fit much better than that..  
"Speak no more!" Count Bleck snapped at her. He straightened back up. With renewed vigor, he threw his arms out. "This world is dying under the monocled gaze of..Count Bleck! But don't let that stop you from going after a Pure Heart you will never acquire!"  
He cackled madly, then flipped out of the dimension.  
"Oh, dear.." She murmured. But that single name kept nagging at her. Timpani.  
Who was Timpani?

* * *

 _Count Bleck...  
She thought again, trying to remember his face. Count Bleck...I feel like I know him from somewhere..._

Someone coming out of the woods, scared that it would be someone else, but even though the scene was extremely murky, the person who stepped out was..  
...Count Bleck.

"Wait...I do! Or at least, I did! I did know him!" But he seemed different. In the memory, he seemed...less intimidating, somehow. "But...how?" Did he change somehow? "And when? Who is he?" The name Count Bleck still felt wrong. It wasn't right on him, but nothing else fit. "I can't remember..."  
As they went back, fighting along their way, even though she was working as hard as the rest..she couldn't stop thinking about him.

* * *

"NO!"  
Tippi stared, awestruck, at the places where the three heroes had just been standing. And that stupid, cocky jester floating above it.  
"I simply fulfilled their wishes," Dimentio said. "I sent them to the next world."  
Tippi looke up at him. The ever-present smile on his face..he didn't show any reaction, yet he had just killed three innocent people with his own bare hands..!  
As he teleported away, she looked helplessly at the scorch marks on the floor.  
"Mario..no..."  
She sank to the ground.  
It couldn't...

...  
"Merlon!"  
"Tippi? What is it?" Merlon asked. Tippi ignored him and shot out the door. She could feel it! He was there!  
Merlon followed her up the elevator to the top of Flipside tower.  
"Mario!" She called. "You're alive!"  
Merlon gasped. "M-M-M-M-MARIO?! But..I saw Dimentio end your game..!"  
"You know, my bro always bounces back," A similar-looking man to Mario, but dressed all in green, stood behind him. "Like me! I bounce too!"  
Awkward silence.  
"Um...and you are?"  
He looked disheartened, but Merlon insisted they head back.  
According to the two, Peach and Bowser were still missing. It was all obvious; although Bowser was missing, Peach was clearly their first priority.  
"But look!"  
Mario held out the Pure Heart, the one that had turned to stone..but Tippi saw it was now alive and giving off the same warm energy as all the others.  
" 'The seventh lost Pure Heart will draw together two men'," Merlon quoted, " 'And when the light returns, its brilliance will show the way to the last hero..'"  
There was no doubt about it; Luigi was the fourth and final hero.  
As the three set out for the final heart pillar, and the heart placed, Tippi turned to them.  
"Only one left to find..we must hurry..we must stop that Blumiere.."  
Tippi jumped. "Hmm? What did I just...Blumiere..wait, hold on..who in the world is that? I...what am I saying..?!"  
Both Mario and Luigi shrugged. As they headed back, Tippi could swear she could hear quiet laughter.  
" _Blumiere...ah ha, how very interesting!.._ "  
She must be hearing things. Neither Mario brother reacted. She tried concentrating. Blumiere..  
The name came out of nowhere, but it had the same feel that Timpani did. Familiar. Welcoming. She knew she had to remember.

* * *

 _ **BLEH HEH HEH HEH! BLECK!  
...Craash.**_ _  
No...  
No!  
No, Blumiere! You mustn't!  
It suddenly all came back to her.  
He fell from the cliff...she tended to him...the meeting in secret..his father..he asked her...and they ran away, but he found her..and then Merlon had found her, close to death, because of what his father had done..  
Her name was Lady Timpani. That was why it was so familiar. Tippi..it was part of her name.  
His name was Lord Blumiere...the love of her life..but..  
There was no way Count Bleck could be Blumiere! Why would he want to destroy everything?_  
"Darling...how could you..."  
She had to choke back a sob. "Oh..Darling...you...why.."  
"Hey! Tippi! Snap out of it, will ya?"  
Tippi opened her eyes. She was sitting on the floor, all of the heroes' eyes on her. "What?!"  
"I thought you'd just gone to town," Peach said, "But then I saw you lying there, not moving...And then you started shouting loudly. I must say, you really scared me."  
"Are you-a allright?" Mario asked. Tippi shuddered.  
"Um...I'm all right. Sorry for startling you."  
"Blumiere?" Peach asked. "Was that a person's name you were saying? Were you remembering something from your past, perhaps?"  
"No," Tippi said sadly. "It's nothing...nothing at all."

* * *

"So we have all the heroes and Pure Hearts, it seems..."  
Bowser laughed. "All there is now is to crush this Count Bleck guy and call it a day!"  
"I pity the people who have to look at the sky and worry," Peach said firmly. "We need to remove the worry from their hearts and minds!"  
Tippi was quiet.  
"Something the matter?" Merlon asked.  
Tippi swallowed nervously, then asked. "The prophecy...do we really have to destroy Count Bleck to stop it from happening?"  
Oh, who was she kidding? She had spoken to him before and he hadn't listened to her. What would make him now?  
"It was by Count Bleck's hand this all started," Merlon said. "Without him, all worlds can be saved from their ends."  
Tippi sighed. "Yes..I suppose you're right...I guess we always knew that."  
But she thought of how he said her name...Without Timpani, no treasure mattered in the least to me..they could save him, maybe. But..the worlds would then end. They had to stop him. They had no choice.

* * *

"Tippi."  
She looked at Merlon.  
"I don't know what is in your mind, but if this is too difficult for you, please feel free to stay behind."  
No. She had to go. Even if they had to...she still had to try.  
"No. I've made up my mind. I'm going."  
Merlon nodded. "Then the best of luck to you all."  
They opened the door, stepping through to the other side.

The blackness of Castle Bleck..it was so similar to Blumiere's old home..the Tribe of Darkness..  
 _So Blumiere IS here..._

* * *

...Bowser..  
Mario tried the door as much as he could, but it wouldn't budge.  
...Peach..  
No such luck. They had to keep going...  
...And now Luigi..  
Leaving her and Mario.  
They arrived at the last hallway. This was it. The final way to go before Count Bleck.  
"So it's just us now, isn't it?" Tippi said. "It reminds me a little of when we first met.."  
Mario turned to look at her. Tippi could clearly see it; he was trying to ignore the fact that Peach, Luigi, Bowser...they were all dead.  
"I'm sorry, Mario," She said. "I promised I'd help you find your friends, but...now they'r gone forever."  
Mario suddenly shook his head. "No.."  
"What?!" But that was insane! "You mean they're still alive?!"  
Mario nodded. Tippi thought about it. "Maybe you're right..they ARE the heroes, after all..."  
They turned to face what was likely to be the final battles up ahead.  
"I'm going to believe in them," She said firmly. They were going to survive. As long as Mario was there, they had a chance. And the other heroes would be alright. And...

 _...And I'm going to believe in HIM...most of all._


End file.
